19416: (Hermantin) Sun-Sentinel-White House stops short of call for Aristide to remove (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

White House stops short of call for Aristide to remove himself

By Rafael Lorente
Washington Bureau
Posted February 28 2004

WASHINGTON -- In spite of the growing chaos, the Bush administration on
Friday refused calls for military intervention in Haiti, suggesting that the
White House has decided that Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide needs
to go to resolve the crisis enveloping his country.

However, the White House continued planning for the possibility of sending
troops to Haiti if the crisis worsens or if a political settlement calls for
international forces.

As many as 2,200 U.S. Marines could be deployed to Haiti to protect or
evacuate American citizens and embassy personnel, or as a show of force to
dissuade further attacks by armed rebels.

In Haiti, rebels seized another town on Friday, Les Cayes, and vowed to
choke off the capital of Port-au-Prince to create "desperation first" before
moving in. Chaos engulfed the city as looters and armed thugs took whatever
they could carry from the seaport. Most flights out of the airport were
canceled.

The rebellion, which started Feb. 5 in Gonaïves, has claimed about 80 lives.

"We want to defend democracy; we have a common goal," Aristide said, during
a live interview on CNN. "If [Bush] can help us to have international police
right now in Haiti … that could be a good signal toward the criminals."

President Bush stopped short of calling for Aristide to resign, instead
referring to earlier comments by Secretary of State Colin Powell suggesting
that the Haitian president might want to consider what was best for his
country.

"The secretary of state has made some comments," Bush said. "Let me follow
up on those by saying that we're interested in achieving a political
settlement, and we're still working to that effect.

"We're also at the same time planning for a multinational force that would
go in and make sure that if aid needed to be delivered, or there needed to
be some stability, that it could go in dependent upon a political
settlement."

Democrats complained that Aristide has already accepted a power-sharing
arrangement proposed by the United States, but that the opposition has not.

"This sort of benign neglect … is clearly a signal I think to me, to the
rebels, that they are not going to have any opposition to worry about," said
Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.

But Rep. Mark Foley, R-West Palm Beach, said the failure to negotiate a
settlement that leaves Aristide in power may mean it's best for him to step
aside.

"We did our best to observe the fact that he's a duly elected president,"
Foley said. "The die is fairly cast, and he's either going out in a Learjet
or he's going out in a body bag."

In Paris, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin met with Aristide's
chief of staff, Jean-Claude Desgranges, and his foreign minister, Joseph
Antonio. Once again he was critical of the island's president.

"It's for President Aristide, who bears a heavy responsibility in the
current situation, to draw the consequences of the impasse," officials said
de Villepin told the Haitians.

Aristide, who was ousted by a coup in 1990 and restored to power by the
United States in 1994, has said he wants to serve out the remaining two
years of his term. He agreed this week to a power-sharing proposal that
would reduce his power, but the political opposition says it does not trust
Aristide's word.

If he were to resign, the constitution calls for Supreme Court Justice
Boniface Alexandre to be his successor.

A former priest who once was wildly popular, Aristide has been under
constant criticism at home and abroad since flawed legislative elections in
2000.

U.S. officials on Friday downplayed rumors of an imminent deployment of
troops, but said preparations were under way in case such a move became
necessary.

"Until there's a political settlement, we're not going to be going in
there," a State Department official said.

The official said U.S. policy is to work out an arrangement between the
parties in Haiti, which include Aristide, the political opposition and the
armed rebels who have taken over much of the country.

The official said the U.S. embassy in Port-au-Prince is still "secured"
despite a deteriorating situation in the capital city.

Raul Duany, a spokesman for the U.S. Southern Command Headquarters in
Miami-Dade County, said the Pentagon is preparing for every possible
scenario.

On the Web site of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit based in Camp LeJeune,
N.C., Lt. Gen. H.P. Osman is quoted as having told his troops last week that
they might have to go to Haiti.

"Things are bubbling right now in a nation in our own hemisphere, and …
you're the Marines I'm going to be looking at to possibly answer that
contingency," Osman said.

Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., joined Dodd and Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, Friday in
calling for the administration to take action immediately in Haiti or face a
humanitarian catastrophe.

Graham said that Haitians, with one of the lowest per capita caloric intakes
in the world, cannot sustain themselves long if food supplies dwindle.

Already, food warehouses have been looted and relief organizations are
having trouble delivering supplies.

"Even a brief denial of access to food has catastrophic humanitarian
consequences," Graham said, at a news conference on Capitol Hill.

Graham said the United States has to be ready to rebuild Haiti regardless of
who ends up in charge in Port-au-Prince.

"The challenge for the United States, whatever the political resolution is,
is to engage in Haiti, accept the fact that we have a responsibility,"
Graham said.

Haiti became a hot topic in the presidential campaign this week when Bush's
Democratic challengers accused the administration of failing to become fully
engaged before the crisis erupted.

In a candidates' debate on Thursday, Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts and
John Edwards of North Carolina backed proposals to send a multinational
force to Haiti.

Edwards said Bush's handling of Haiti reflected his unilateral policies and
disengagement with much of the world.

"The reason we're in this place is because the president has not been
involved," Edwards said. "If we had stayed involved, we would have seen this
coming sooner."

Kerry and the Rev. Al Sharpton supported temporary asylum for fleeing
Haitians.

Sharpton plans to travel to Haiti next week to meet with leaders and assess
the situation.

Kerry said Bush harbors a "theological and ideological hatred for Aristide"
and has, in effect, empowered rebels by refusing to help him. "Our
engagement should have been to try to restore the democracy," Kerry said.

Washington Bureau Chief William E. Gibson contributed to this report, which
was supplemented with information from Sun-Sentinel wire services.

Rafael Lorente can be reached at rlorente@sun-sentinel.com or 202-824-8225
in Washington.

Copyright © 2004, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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